CDF issues manual for bishops on how to handle reports of clerical abuse of minors

Wiktoria Ulma with six of her children. / The Ulma Family Museum of Poles Saving Jews in World War II.

CNA Staff, Sep 14, 2023 / 12:22 pm (CNA).
All nine members of the Ulma family, who were murdered by the Nazi regime for sheltering two Jewish… […]

Vatican City, Mar 11, 2020 / 11:19 am (CNA).- Cardinal Peter Turkson sent a message Wednesday encouraging Catholics to see the sacrifices required to slow the spread of coronavirus as a chance to deepen their relationships with God and their neighbors.

“Prayer is our strength, prayer is our resource. Here then is the favorable moment to rediscover the fatherhood of God and our being children,” Turkson said in the March 11 message.

He encouraged “the most tested communities” to not experience “everything as a privation.”

For those who cannot gather for the celebration of Mass, he said, “we are called to an even more deeply rooted journey on what sustains the spiritual life: prayer, fasting, and charity.”

“If we cannot meet in our assemblies to live our faith together, as we usually do, God offers us the opportunity to enrich ourselves, to discover new paradigms, and to find personal relationships with Him again,” he said.

The prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Turkson addressed his letter to health workers, chaplains, the sick and their families, volunteers, civil authorities, bishops in charge of pastoral work in healthcare, the heads of bishops’ conferences, and all people of good will.

His message was sent as countries around the world increase measures to fight the spread of coronavirus.

In Italy, public Masses were canceled starting March 8. Most dioceses in Japan have also suspended public Masses.

Worldwide, there are 109,577 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and 3,809 deaths.

The new strain of coronavirus causes a respiratory disease, COVID-19, and has a fatality rate of roughly 3%. The vast majority of cases and deaths have been in China.

In his message, the cardinal reminded Catholics of Christ’s words in Matthew’s Gospel: “when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”

He also recalled the many times Pope Francis has encouraged Catholics to keep the Bible nearby and to pray with scripture.

“The effort made to contain the spread of Coronavirus is accompanied by the commitment of each individual faithful for the greater good: the reconquest of life, the defeat of fear, the triumph of hope,” he said.

The cardinal noted the importance of solidarity during this time and asked people to think of their “neighbor, office colleague, school friend, but above all the doctors and nurses who risk contamination and infection to save the infected.”

Turkson asked political and economic authorities to not neglect social justice amid the new economic crisis caused by the virus and to continue to look for ways to support health workers all over the world, especially in the places in most difficulty.

“So let us pray to God the Father to increase our faith, help the sick in healing and support health workers in their mission,” the cardinal said.

“We ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate the efforts of scientists, health workers and governments, and we entrust all the populations affected by the contagion to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Mother of humanity.”

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Pope Francis waves to crowd gathered for the Angelus at St. Peter’s Square on March 13, 2022. / Vatican Media

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 13, 2022 / 07:37 am (CNA).

Noting that Luke’s Gospel reveals that Peter, James, and John had fallen asleep prior to Jesus’ Transfiguration, Pope Francis urged the faithful during his Angelus reflection Sunday to call on the Holy Spirit to awaken their desire to pray.

“The drowsiness of the three disciples appears to be a discordant note. The same apostles then fall asleep in Gethsemane too, during the anguished prayer of Jesus, who had asked them to keep watch (cf. Mk 14:37-41). This somnolence in such important moments is surprising,” the pope observed on March 13, the ninth anniversary of his pontificate, speaking to a large crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

“However, if we read carefully, we see that Peter, John and James fall asleep before the Transfiguration begins, that is, while Jesus is in prayer. The same will happen in Gethsemane. This is evidently a prayer that continued for some time, in silence and concentration. We may think that at the beginning they too were praying, until tiredness prevailed,” he continued.

Pope Francis observed that as followers of Jesus, we are prone to the same weaknesses as the apostles, and often miss the opportunity to converse with God at important moments of our lives.

“Perhaps in the evening, when we would like to pray, to spend some time with Jesus after a day of rushing around and being busy. Or when it is time to exchange a few words with the family and we no longer have the strength. We would like to be more awake, attentive, participatory, not to miss precious opportunities, but we can’t, or we manage it somehow but poorly,” he said.

“The strong time of Lent is an opportunity in this regard,” Pope Francis continued. “It is a period in which God wants to awaken us from our inner lethargy, from this sleepiness that does not let the Spirit express itself. Because — let us bear this in mind — keeping the heart awake does not depend on us alone: It is a grace and must be requested.

“The three disciples of the Gospel show this: They were good, they had followed Jesus onto the mountain, but by their own strength they could not stay awake. This happens to us too.”

The good news is that the Holy Spirit desires to help us do what we cannot accomplish on our own.

“Like [the apostles], we too are in need of God’s light, that makes us see things in a different way: It attracts us, it reawakens us, it reignites our desire and strength to pray, to look within ourselves, and to dedicate time to others,” the pope said.

“We can overcome the tiredness of the body with the strength of the Spirit of God. And when we are unable to overcome this, we must say to the Holy Spirit: ‘Help us, come, come, Holy Spirit. Help me: I want to encounter Jesus, I want to be attentive, awake.’ Ask the Holy Spirit to bring us out of this slumber that prevents us from praying.”

In conclusion, Pope Francis posed a simple challenge.

“In this Lenten time, after the labors of each day, it will do us good not to switch off the light in the room without placing ourselves in the light of God. To pray a little before sleeping,” he urged.

“Let’s give the Lord the chance to surprise us and to reawaken our hearts. We can do this, for instance, by opening the Gospel and letting ourselves marvel at the Word of God, because the Scripture enlightens our steps and enflames the heart. Or we can look at the crucified Jesus and wonder at the boundless love of God, who never tires of us and has the power to transfigure our days, to give them a new meaning, a new, unexpected light,” he said.

“May the Virgin May help us to keep our heart awaken to welcome this time of grace that God offers to us.”

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